Malaysia Hot Stocks-Genting shares up on Singapore casino

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 6 - Shares of Malaysian gaming group Genting <GENT.KL> gained on Friday after a top executive said the company is on track to launch a new casino in Singapore by January next year.

By 0324 GMT, Genting shares gained 0.98 percent to 7.22 ringgit a share on trading volume of 1.69 million shares.

Shares of Genting Malaysia <GENM.KL>, which houses the group's Malaysian casino and leisure business, added 1.5 percent on volume of 3.47 million shares.

The main stock index <.KLSE> was up 0.7 percent.

Genting's Singapore unit, Genting Singapore <GENS.SI> is building Resorts World Sentosa, the city-state's second integrated resort.

"Construction is going on smoothly. We are targeting to open it by early January 2010," Genting Chairman and CEO Lim Kok Thay told reporters in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.

Resorts World Sentosa is expected to be one of the group's key earnings drivers in the future.

In Singapore, shares of Genting Singapore was up 2.86 percent.

A January opening will ensure that "Resort World Sentosa can fully capture holiday-makers during next year's Chinese New Year festivities," said analysts at CIMB Research.